Flash giveaway! Tell me your favorite recipe(s) from JustBento

1 Mar 2013 by maki

Comments are now closed. Thank you for all of your terrific responses! The winner of the giveaway will be announced next week.

Dear JustBento readers, I need your help! I’m trying to put together a list of the most popular recipes here on JustBento. I can go by access count and all that, but I thought it would be more interesting if you told me what you like.

So, here’s the deal. Just leave a comment here stating the following:

Your name (Your full name is not necessary, just a name or nickname so I can identify you)

Your general geographic location in the world

Up to 3 favorite recipes from the site, and why you like them. Please give me the full name or the link, since some recipes have very similar names.

And that is it! One commenter picked at random will receive a signed copy of The Just Bento Cookbook, plus an additional goodie to be disclosed later.

Just a few rules and all that:

Only one entry/comment per person please. If you leave more than one (unless it’s due to a glitch in the commenting system) I’ll have to disqualify you.

Perhaps it’s a bit too obvious but…only write in recipes that are actually on the site. I’ll allow JustHungry recipes too. But if you just list any old recipe, you’re probably confused…and will be ineligible for the drawing.

Comment viewing options

(from Germany/ UK)
I like most the Miso Pork (just love it) and the Sesame Spinach as well as the spinach variation with Walnus Miso paste. The spinach ones are especially good bento solutions and fit many of my protein choices well.

Cucumber and Nashi (Asian pear) marinated salad
Natto or Tempeh Fried Rice
Spring Pasta and Chickpea Salad
I am fairly new to your site. I can normally eat a wider variety of foods. However, for a few months, I am limited while on some medications and still I was able to find a good variety of very tasty recipes of foods I enjoy. These were my 3 favorites and met the nutritional needs I have AND the tastes I enjoy. WIN WIN!
Arizona.

My name is Aimee and from Nebraska, USA. ;)
I like the 1 egg tamagoyaki recipe for it's simplicity and easiness; it was also my first recipe on this site. I don't have to worry about making too much, too! Another recipe I enjoy is Yakibuta. I love how versatile it is and it's not expensive to make. It's really delicious and everyone in my family enjoy it. :) http://justbento.com/handbook/johbisai/char-siu-yakibuta-chinese-style-r...
One last recipe I adore is karaage in chicken lollipops style. The presentation is adorable while being delicious. Hopefully, I can make a tons of them for my little sisters during the summer~

I know it's really simple, but your onigiri recipe has been a staple of my repertoire for years now! ( http://justhungry.com/2003/12/obento.html ) I recently did a demonstration speech for a class over how to make onigiri, using your recipe as a guide. Even out in very western West Texas, all my onigiri got eaten up! Everyone was delighted with how simple and delicious it was. I make onigiri at least once or twice a week, usually for friends who I have gotten hooked on them~

http://justhungry.com/japanese-beef-curry
Because nothing is better than home-made Japanese curry. It takes me at least thee hours to make it but it is so tasty it makes it all worthwhile. Plus it's in a number of animes, so I was inclined to cook it up at least once.

http://justhungry.com/2005/03/inarizushi_sush.html
Because it is my second favourite sushi after unagi. A great escape from fish and seafood sushi that's not with just cucumber. The guests are unfamiliar with this type of sushi and so they love it as well.

I'm here from Arizona (or sometimes California). My favorite recipe is the frozen tofu mini-cutlets. My husband is vegetarian, and I am not, so I'm always happy about recipes that appeal to both of us. This one has such good texture and flavor!

Hi!
I'm Ned from Malaysia. You have such a nice blog! I linked Just Bento to mine since lately I like to try and cook japanese cuisine at home.. and ur blogs have various choices of recipes that is easy for me to try (^_^).

1. Muffins for spring: Ramp Pesto Muffins and Carrot Purée Muffins
Both of these are amazing, I love to make a huge batch and then they freeze for up to a month or two. so easy to just pull one out to take for lunch or a snack. healthy and delicious.

2. Basic meat and tofu mixture for mini-burgers, meatballs and more
These are so juicy and delicious, great for dinner one night then the leftovers can be taken the next day. I also love how the cooked meatballs can be frozen and eaten cold or heated for lunch. So versatile.

It gave me the confidence to just give it a go and I now make miso soup as a comfort food when I'm feeling rough or just want something nice and warm and lovely. Damn I may now have to make this for dinner...

I keep forgetting to enter this! I'm Anita from Seattle, WA, USA. I make several of your recipes on a regular basis, but the hit has to be the basic meat soboro:http://justbento.com/handbook/johbisai/basic-meat-soboro
I make a pork soboro just about every week, and my husband bursts into fits of happiness every time. If I don't ration it then there isn't any left for lunches!
Love your site Maki, and I'm so glad you're feeling better nowadays! :-)

Hi! I'm Laura from Japan! I loooove your sites! So many fabulous (and easy!) recipes. I have to say my favorite is buta no kakuni because that's the one that led me to you! My hubby, who is Japanese, wanted me to make it one day, so I googled the recipe and found yours! He loves this recipe, too. :)

I soooo want your cookbook. It will be wonderful to have such easy to prepare authentic Japanese recipes in English!

Lori T. from Minnesota. I make lunches for a family of eight, three of whom take bento lunches to work and college. I've packed lunches for what seems like forever, and wanting to find new ideas for healthy lunches is how I discovered the site about four or five years ago. I have a notebook full of printed re rcipes from the site, as well as the cookbook, all well used and splotched to prove popularity. Most of the family prefers a meatatarian approach to lunch, but I'm happy to say that with the help of your recipes I've managed to convince them that veggies are more than supporting cast members pushed on them by me. Not being a morning person, I try to keep a fair stash on hand to make the packup easier. Since I am not fully functional until after that first cup of coffee, I often do a lot of packup the night before. Our favorites are always a part of the stash, dependable and popular with everyone. They are:
1. Char Sui, or Chinese style roast pork- I make this with either a Boston Butt roast or the boneless country style ribs. This goes on to marinate on Friday evening, and cooks on Saturday or Sunday without needing much attention from me. I can't list all the ways I use it, but a few include fried rice, topping noodles and soup, filiing for buns, shredded for salad or sandwiches, and sometimes just sliced to eat as is. It freezes beautifully, in smaller packages, thaws overnight in the fridge, and gosh- it's just yummy.
2. Torihamu, or chicken ham- I make this up when chicken breasts are on sale, usually making up four or so rolls at a shot. I have poached them sealed up in baggies and baked it in the oven, but the most popular cooking method is to have it cooked in the smoker. That adds to the smoky kind of hammy flavor, although the family will eat it any way they can get it. It goes in fried rice, in salad, on a sandwich, and if I don't watch them- just down the hatch whenever the chance is presented.
3. Potato Oyaki- including the sweet potato version-This one won me over when my veggie resistant 12 year old requested I make a batch. I'd used some leftover broccoli and cheese sauce to fill a few, and put some charsui bits in the middle of the sweet potato version. Since then we've made it with all sorts of veggie fillings, soboro, minced torihamu, and so on. Anything that could convince Mr. Confirmed Meatatarian to eat a green and like it, much less request it- that's a winner in my book.

I would list others, as there are plenty of other favorites- but these are the three leaders at my hourse. Thanks Maki, for the recipes and inspiration.

The second, not something that we had out there but something I have always been a fan of but not in this way... until now - http://justhungry.com/moffles. This is the one and only reason i bought a waffle iron and man those moffles are good!

last but by no means least (as this list of recipes i love could go on forever) - http://justhungry.com/2004/08/is_my_blog_burn.html
I love spending a day off making hundreds of these things to freeze for bento and to have fresh for dinner with rice, miso soup and pickles... dinner from heaven!

Hey, it's Christos from the UK! My favourite recipes are the 1 Egg Tamagoyak, the Japanese Potato Salad (on JH) and the Sweet Onion and Pepper Confit.
These three are my favourite, one, because they were some of the first recipes I made on this site and which introduced me to bentos, two, because they are all so quick and easy to make, yet super tasty! And lastly, because they all look great and manage to add a nice pop of colour to my lunches!
(Not to mention they help me get through a gruelling day of school as they give me something to look forward to at lunchtime! Albeit with the addition of 'what's that' 'ooo what's that?' from my friends, I can tell they're so jealous, and they should be haha! (don't worry, I always give them a taste!))